


sugar rush

by poppyharris



Category: Derry Girls (TV)
Genre: 5 Times, 5+1 Things, F/M, IRA - Freeform, Northern Irish Troubles, Religion, Religious Slurs, amateur first aid, barbed wire, car bombs!!! we all love some good ol' car bombs, derry walls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-20
Updated: 2020-06-20
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:28:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24761608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poppyharris/pseuds/poppyharris
Summary: james meets a jewish girl five times, before saving her life once.
Relationships: James Maguire/Original Character(s)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	sugar rush

**Author's Note:**

> i worked really hard on this please like it

**1.**

"what're you doin'?"

he really should be used to the accent by now, james supposed, rubbing the top of his head following the sharp contact with the cold stone. he looked up over the side, seeing a girl giving him a suspicious look through the metal mesh.

"um, my aunt told me to get out of the house while she had visitors. sorry, i just wanted somewhere to sit," the girl simply narrowed her eyes further at the sound of his accent, pursing her lips.

"so, ya 'a jaffa? or are ye a taig? or an ikey, like me?" the girl suddenly looked very nervous, looking over her shoulder, which caused her hair to fan over her face. james stuttered for a moment, causing her to stare back at him. "well? what are ye?"

james couldn't help the audible gulp as he stared at her, not sure what to say. he'd been called a lot of things by a lot of people, but being called a jaffa outside of what biscuits he wanted to dunk was new to him. "um, i'm english."

the girl seemed to recoil, looking mildly horrified, before settling on a smirk. "i mean, it ain't not obvious, but fuckin' hell. you're a tan, and you're just sat by the derry walls like it's nothin'? you got balls, i'll give ye that."

james stood up, suddenly disliking how she was able to look down on him. it also allowed him to get a first good look at the girl. clad in a grey dress and white apron, she reminded him of a 40s waitress, but he doubted 40s waitresses had cyan hair. it perfectly clashed with her eyes, the deep green reminding james of a four leaf clover. 

he looked around himself nervously, wondering if she was a prank set upon him by michelle. "look, it was lovely to, um, meet you and uh, i'm sure you're a lovely girl, but uhm... i need to go home, probably." the girl looked bemused as he stumbled, but nodded, shoving her hands in her dress pockets. "um, do you hang around here often?"

she smiled, shaking her head. "this is my walk home, if i ain't on the ockie," she turned, looking across to londonderry. "aye, well. i'll spy ye around."

james nodded nervously, before starting a quick walk towards home. 

**2.**

"aye, so what's the wee girl's name?" sarah shuffled her cards, staring at a red-faced james. he'd been halfway through putting his bag on and making his excuses. erin dropped her spoon into her bowl, gaping at james, who was pointedly staring away from his friends. 

"you got a girlfriend?" michelle finally looked up from painting her nails, looking absolutely disgusted with her cousin. james rolled his eyes, but still avoided eye-contact. 

"she's not my girlfriend," james mumbled, scuffing his shoes on the lino, as mary sucked in a breath through her teeth. "i don't even know her name."

michelle raised an eyebrow, before looking james hard in the eyes, following them so he was forced to look her in the eye. "are ye sure you're not just in love with the statue of mary outside st columbia's?" she asked, looking back down at her nails. james scoffed, looking over at the door.

"look, can i just go? i'm not meeting a girl, i just want to go home," he groaned, throwing his head back. james turned on his heel, and left. 

he tried to seem nonchalant as he walked along the derry walls, looking down whenever a soldier gave him a suspicious look. he perked up as he was crossing foyle bridge, hearing giggles from the other side of the bridge. the girl was walking there, amongst a gaggle of girls that seemed to hang on to her every word, nodding along every time she opened her mouth. they reached the other end of the bridge, and she hugged each friend, before blowing a kiss at the back of them, then turning around, and going back over the bridge. 

"hey!" james regretted the shout the moment it came out of her mouth. soldiers raised their guns from their vantage points between the barbed wire, shoppers dropped their bags, a young boy even ducked, putting her arms up in surrender. and in the middle of all of it, the girl simply looked like a deer in headlights, staring at james from across the barricade. "sorry, i didn't mean to cause all this." 

a soldier tutted, before shouting something in gaelic, then saying "all clear!". the shoppers scoffed, and the boy's hand was firmly grabbed by his mother, walking off the bridge. a woman, who james thought remarkably like his own mother, walked behind the girl, hissing loud enough that james could hear her. " _kike_."

the girl recoiled at the woman, walking towards the centre of the bridge, staring down james every step closer to the barbed wire. he didn't know why, but he began walking towards the barricade, meeting her in the middle. 

"what the _feck_ do ye think ye're up to?" she spat, her cyan hair looking other-worldly against the drab black pinafore she'd tried to customise with a handful of badges and a striped shirt.

"i wanted to-" james stopped, worried she'd stab him if he said he was looking for her. "i just wanted to explore derry, and i saw a friendly face." she raised an eyebrow, huffing loudly, but nodded a little, glaring at the soldier that walked between them.

"aye, well, next time ya see me, don't yell, yeah? foyle's bridge ain't a place for us to be seen together," she crossed her arms, motioning for him to follow her. "keep yer eyes down until we make it to the end." 

james didn't say anything, but began following her anyway, looking through the barbed wire at her. she'd tied a white ribbon around her arm, and james couldn't help but watch her arm flex and lax under the ribbon as she adjusted her bag. he opened his mouth a few times to say something, but she just wouldn't look at him. as the barbed wire slowly became spike strips, then eventually petered out into crude peace symbols. james didn't dare to cross the line though, feeling like something unspoken would be broken if he did. 

she finally came back to the middle of the road, like him, choosing to stay a metre away. james licked his lips, suddenly feeling like his throat was extremely dry. she sighed, tilting her head to the side. "what's yer name, then?" she asked, looking up and down his uniform, then looking him dead in the eye.

"james, it's james. james maguire. i'm from-" he cut himself off when he realised he'd stepped into a third of the peace symbol on the ground, quickly jumping back like the ground had shocked him. the girl smiled, tilting her head to the side.

"yer from england, ye already said. i'm cianna harlow, but most people 'round here call me kike," _cianna_ held out her hand over the symbol, and james took it. with a nod, they shook, then let their hands drop.

"what does kike mean though?" james asked, regretting how her face went stony when he asked. he began to stammer apologies, his eyes wide, but she silenced him with a shake of her heard.

"slur for a jew, the christians might hate each other 'round here, but nothin' compares to how they hate jews," the smirk began to return to cianna's face, and she seemed to return to her sarcastic self. james shifted uncomfortably, his hand starting to feel cold without the soft pressure of hers.

"jeeze, i'm.. i'm sorry," he rubbed the back of his neck, aside from the open hatred of protestants he'd seen around derry, james thought it was far more liberal than the dingy corner of england he'd grown up in. he shifted his weight, before finally giving her a nervous smile. "d'you wanna hang out without barbed wire sometime? like, in a park or something?"

cianna mulled it about in her head, before settling on a sympathetic look, a hint of a smile on her lips. "aye, while it'd be nice, i couldn't. ma doesn't let me leave the house at the moment without it bein' schoolin' related." she shrugged, but continued to smile. "maybe if yeaw'll have a big party or somethin', but i doubt our lady immaculate is gonna want to hang out with us filthy kadokhes."

james gulped, taking a risk with his next statement.

"well, i'd like to hang out with you."

cianna went silent, her cheeks becoming a rosy pink. she made an attempt to talk, but only opened and closed her mouth. james took a small step forward, which seemed to shock cianna back to life. she stood sill for a moment more, before leaning across the symbol on the ground, and pressing a small kiss to his cheek, before pulling her bag tightly around her. "i need tah, be uh, gettin' home, james. i'll see ye around."

and like that, she was gone.

**3.**

“aye, tan boy! want a coke?”

james looked up from the apples, staring at the girl sat on the wall. “oh, cianna. why are you... on the wall?”

cianna laughed, looking over the other side of the wall then looking over at james. “got a jaffa, ‘ere,” she dangled the coke slightly higher. “stole his coke!”

james raised an eyebrow, looking over his shoulder to make sure michelle was busy pushing her breasts up to the cherry seller. “if i drink it, will you jump down the other side?”

cianna raised an eyebrow, swinging her legs over to james’ side. “why, what’s wrong with me jumpin’ over and spending time with me favourite invader?” she asked, leaning down to look at him.

james flushed, looking over his shoulder at michelle again, then at deirdre who was very distracted by the size of potatoes and the price farmer mcbraen was selling them for. “i don’t want my aunt and my cousin thinking i’m trying to get off with a protestant.”

cianna raised an eyebrow, smashing the stem of the bottle on the wall, brushing the broken glass off her thigh. “but i ain’t a protestant.”

”no but to the untrained eye, a girl hanging over the derry walls from the protestant side could make you look like a bit like a protestant,” james kicked the dirt, watching cianna pull her legs up to her chest as she sipped from the jagged edges of the broken bottle.   
  
“alrigh’ then, i’ll leave you in peace, mr maguire,” she tilted her bottle at him, then swung her legs back over the derry walls. 

“oi! james ye fuckin’ poof! we’re leavin’!” michelle yelled, ducking her mother’s smack.

**4.  
**

they’d planned this meticulously.

michelle had asked james to cover for her when she went over to erin’s, and the moment she left, he lied through his teeth to deirdre saying he’d been invited over with michelle.

he didn’t ask how cianna had made it out to loughermore, but the moment he spotted her lugging a picnic basket up to their meeting point, he felt a weird feeling in his chest.

james hadn’t really felt this way since his first kiss in london. but instead of his mum's best friend's niece, cianna was cool, exotic, something... new. her tendency to start fights and mouth off to _fucking soldiers_ started something brewing in his stomach, and he was worried that if his mum ever came back for him, he'd refuse. her hair glowed in the moonlight, a cheeky smirk on her face as she threw a tattered old blanket over him. "aye! ye made it. was worried i was gonna have to be sharin' this flat coke with a squirrel!"

there it was again, the tightening in his chest. it was like someone was standing on his heart, making sure he couldn't breathe. once james had calmed himself down, he took the blanket from his head and laid it carefully out on the dewy grass, before sitting down in the direction of derry. his mum had always said that he got too sentimental when looking at skylines, but something about the obvious half and half divide between protestant and catholic always fascinated him.

"whatcha bring?" she leaned over, pulling out two egg mayo sandwiches. james smiled, dropping a carrier bag full of cooked chicken, a full, sealed bottle of dr pepper, two packets of breadsticks and a sharer pot of hummus. cianna giggled quietly, filling james with a sense of pride. he'd never heard cianna laugh at anything that wasn't him tripping over his laces into a muddy puddle. 

"aye, fit for a king this meal is," cianna dragged the picnic basket closer, pulling out foods james had never even seen before. "matzoh ball soup," she handed james a flask, inside was a yellowish liquid and some dumpling sized balls. "made that myself, i did."

james looked at it a little skeptically, before deciding to take a sip from the flask, and smiling at the surprisingly pleasant taste. "it's good, it's not like anything i've ever tasted," he smiled, not missing the bright grin that was spread across her features for a split second. she leaned over into the basket again, handing him a clump of some type of braided bread. 

"try dippin' that in," cianna leaned back on her hands, not looking at james, but down into derry, a sudden forlorn look on her face. "this whole thing is fuckin' stupid. christians fightin' christians and jews caught in the feckin' middle. it's like the plague all over again."

james chewed on the bread thoughtfully, looking over at her. "if it makes you feel any better, i think it's dumb too." 

she smiled at that, not one of her "i'm so clever" smirks or "i'm fine stop fucking looking at me" teeth grit. but something that made james have to take a deep breath and turn away from so he didn't pin her to the picnic blanket and kiss her until she couldn't breath. "aye, well, you're dumb." james mock-gasped at that, holding his hand to his chest.

"how dare you! you have insulted my honour!" james tried to put on an offended accent, but couldn't help the loud laughs that forced their way through. cianna couldn't even dignify him with a response, laughing just as loudly, before one of her hands slipped, and she fell right into his lap.

the giggles stopped, from both of them. time froze, colder than the air around them. james licked his lips, staring into her shamrock eyes. cianna's breath hitched, before she rolled her eyes, grasped the hairs on the back of his neck, and pulled him down to press her lips to his. 

**5.**

"at times like this, when our poor, poor, poor ukrainian friends are feeling so homesick, we should think back to other groups that have been forcibly removed from their homes, and consider ourselves lucky that we are not in their shoes. which is why, i have invited the ukrainians and their buddies from the king david's school to join our party," jenny smiled across at the blank faces of her cohorts, not realising they had no idea what the king david's school was.

clare sighed and kicked erin under the table . "she means the jewish school in the protestant area." 

a gasp spread out amongst the girls, and james. even michelle looked mildly uncomfortable, before liza leaned over from the table opposite, raising an eyebrow, "why are we... minglin' with the kikes?" she scrunched up her nose at jenny, and pulled anzhela, her ukrainian, a little closer.

jenny sighed, clasping her hands together. "you don't have to go if you have an issue with the jewish community, but if you do, try to avoid gas, trains and shower jokes,” she smiled, before turning around, pulling artem behind her.  
  


-

michelle popped a strawberry into her mouth, her feet up on the dinner table. “so, the only way i’m gonna be able to get off with artem is goin’ to this party, and james wants to go because he thinks he’s gonna get off with katya? is that what i’m gatherin’?” she pointed the stem at clare, an eyebrow raised.

james sighed, rubbing his face. “i don’t think i’m going to get off with katya, i know i’m gonna get off with her,” he dipped his strawberry into the cream in the centre of the table, watching clare work out what’d been said.

”what about that wee fence girl you were writin’ about in poetry?” michelle asked, pulling the pot of melted chocolate towards her and reaching behind her for a straw. 

james suddenly flushed, seemingly very interested in the pips in his strawberry. “i don’t know what you’re talking about michelle,” he mumbled, pulling the leaves from his strawberry. 

”her hair, like a river cascading over her shoulders,” michelle put on her best english accent, stirring the chocolate with her straw. “her eyes, like emeralds glintin’ in the sun. her soft skin looking as soft as a pillow-“

”alright! i get it, look, i haven’t seen her in a month, she could see me if she really wanted to, but she hasn’t. at least katya is actually seeing me,” james slammed his hands on the table, crushing a strawberry on the table, and recoiling at the juice splattering on his hand.

clare couldn’t help the snort that left her, but quickly looked down at her bowl of chocolate custard. “she’s got a point, james, you were pretty in love with her.”

james rolled his eyes, looking over at michelle. “let’s go, i’ll get off with katya, you can get off with anton or whatever his name is," james crossed his arms, leaning back on his chair and watching the two girls. clare gave michelle a pointed look, and with a groan she nodded. "alrigh' fine, but if james is a total virgin and clams up, i ain't lettin' him cry into my shoulder."

-

james was stood, completely frozen, at the foot of the stairs, erin snapping in his ear. "do you want to just- shut up... please," he asked, still reeling from erin's outburst. he was about to open his mouth to speak to katya, when the door opened. 

"hands off yer cocks and on with yer socks!" 

james' jaw dropped as cianna entered the entrance. her hair was now an interesting mash of blue and yellow, but for once had been tied back into two thick plaits, but james' attention was immediately drawn to the white halterneck top, low enough even michelle whistled. "aye, whatcha gotta do to get a fuckin' drink round 'ere?"

"we're not supposed to be drinking, it's not ko-" a boy in a yarmulke stepped forward, trying to coax cianna away from the bottle of vodka left on the floor.

"isaac, if you fuckin' say "it's not kosher", i will grab ye by the bollocks and throw ye out the window," cianna squared up to the boy, who quickly shrunk back. cianna nodded at her victory, and scanned the party. james tried to duck, but cianna's next yell couldn't be at anyone besides him. 

"oi, it's the wee tan boy! come 'ere 'n give us a snog, yeah?" 

james flushed a deep red, erin being the first one to realise who the girl was as she stared at him. "you're dating a jew?" erin whispered, seemingly scandalised by this news. james wasn't entirely sure how to explain, but he didn't need to when cianna literally leaped at the stairs, catching herself on the bannisters and grabbing at james' curly hair. he winced, of course, but the pain was numbed by cianna's lips.

michelle stared, mouth agape. "what the fuck is it with fit girls findin' james hot these days?"

**6.**

"i guess it's good literally everyone in derry knows about us," james said, trying to draw cianna's attention away from flicking bits of her egg sandwich at passers-by. it'd been raining all day in derry, and due to cianna's refusal to go any further until james spent the eight pounds on a much needed umbrella, they were seeking refuge on the guildhall steps. 

"just go buy a feckin' umbrella you sap," cianna laughed, finally taking a bite of her sandwich instead of decorating mrs loghart with it. james rolled his eyes, finally standing up.

"which colour do you want?" he asked, giving her a gentle noogie as she decided. 

"green, let's not get shot on our walk home," she smiled gently, dragging his bag closer as he went into the guildhall to buy a council umbrella. yeah, they were lame, but it was harder to see each other when they had-

a loud boom permeated the sound of rain, causing people to rush out of side rooms, and towards the door. james gripped the umbrella tightly, a blind panic taking over his actions as he ran towards the door. 

the stench of sulfur wafted through the street, a burning wreck of a car opposite the street being the cause of the noise. a man was yelling, debris was everywhere. james couldn't think. 

cianna was curled into a ball, a piece of what was once a car seat burning just beyond her feet. her hands were clapsed together, and her entire body was shaking with sobs. james didn't know why his first reaction was to put the umbrella up, covering cianna. the sudden cessation of rain bouncing off her back caused her to look up, and gasp as she saw james above her.

"are you okay?" 

amongst the screams, the yells and the sirens, james was scared she didn't hear him, but when cianna stood, and took his hand, all other noise was drowned out. but then a ringing sounded through his ears as he touched cianna's back. it was warm, and wet. the cold rain seemed to be chilling james to his very bone as he drew back his hands, cianna's cooling blood covering his finger tips.

cianna gasped, before falling forward into james' chest.

panic tore through him, and he felt adrenaline pumping through his veins as he dropped the umbrella, and caught the girl, his hand pushing down on the wound. a piece of glass or torn metal had slashed along her back once she'd gone into the ball, and dropped to the ground on the top step, covered in blood. james remembered very little from his scouting first aid training, but using his scarf to wrap around cianna's midriff felt right.

james' heart rose as a paramedic ran towards the pair, but stopped when she saw the scarf tied around cianna. "this may seem like a subjective question lad, but is the wound bad?"

he shook his head, and the paramedic looked over her shoulder. "can you take the wee lass home? patch 'er up with a first aid kit ye got in ye kitchen? she won't bleed oot, but there's a kid with half his foot blown off and i don't want to be rude, but if it's superficial, i trust ye to deal with it."

james didn't quite prosess her words, but nodded anyway, gathering cianna in his arms. for all her bravado, she was surprisingly light, and didn't hang lose, but looked like she was instinctively curling into him. 

he didn't even remember making it home, but the next thing james knew, he was tying a gauze around a stirring cianna, while the door swung open.

"james! james are ye home?!" michelle was calling for him, but james didn't reply, simply stared at the blood soaked scarf wrapped around cianna. "ah, there ye feckin- oh my fuckin' god, you brought her home?!"

"she's hurt, michelle," james said, in a surprisingly calm voice. michelle stared at cianna, before looking over her shoulder.

"mammy is gonna be home in a minute, she'll send ye back if she finds out ye got a jew in 'ere," michelle crossed her arms, looking extremely uncomfortable with the situation.

james chose to ignore her, and rubbed his blood soaked knuckles against her cheek, his adam's apple bouncing as he swallowed. cianna's eyes finally opened, staring into james' tear filled ones. "are you alright?" she whispered, her fingers moving slowly to grasp at his other hand.

"it's all going to be alright, one day."

**Author's Note:**

> title: sugar rush by AKB48
> 
> bit o' translation:  
> jaffa = slur for a protestant, named so after the orange men  
> taig = slur for a catholic  
> ikey = slur for a jew  
> tan = term officially for english soldiers, but used more commonly as a way to describe english civillians  
> on the ockie = playing truant  
> kike = slur for a jew, commonly used in derry for a gay jew  
> kadokhes = yiddish for a worthless person
> 
> ‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ socials ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙  
> reddit: zvezdna  
> discord: VoDKa#1999  
> ko-fi: ko-fi.com/bemorekind  
> tumblr: poppystardew


End file.
